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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24870682">An Ordinary Life</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/patricia_von_arundel/pseuds/patricia_von_arundel'>patricia_von_arundel</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Domestic Fluff, F/F, Female My Unit | Byleth</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 09:42:23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,216</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24870682</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/patricia_von_arundel/pseuds/patricia_von_arundel</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When Byleth is injured in an ambush, Edelgard is given a chance, for the first time, to experience something she has always longed to know: an ordinary life.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>159</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>An Ordinary Life</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/lysissisyl/gifts">lysissisyl</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is a story I’ve been trying to start, and kept getting stymied on and restarting, for a very long time. It’s a simple story, about two people very much in love, who rarely get to exist as others do. Who live lives full of great deeds and great challenges, but have few moments of solitude and peace. Who are extraordinary, but rarely ordinary. So... I wanted to give ordinary to them. To Edelgard, who grieves the ordinary life her siblings never had, and longs for a lazy day. To Byleth, who has only recently learned to want or need anything beyond what is necessary to live. Even if the respite for both of them is brief, it is still just that: a respite. </p><p>I wanted it up today for El’s birthday.</p><p>I wanted to write it at all for my own amazing girlfriend. Ti amo, cuore mio. </p><p>(The third part of the story will increase the rating to E.)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It had been almost a year - almost a year since the war ended, and the true tests of her abilities began. Edelgard had not been so foolish as to believe these tests would be easy ones, but she <em>had</em> failed to grasp the full tedium that they would lay upon her. Day in and day out. Heavier than any armor - and completely lacking in the satisfaction of laying down her weapon at the end of the day. </p><p>She had never been much for such work: sitting for hours on end, piles of paper and ink tipping into depleted wells, demands offered in formulaic, formal, flowery tones. Meetings with crusty, entitled men of the <em>ancien regime</em>, who she knew before any discussion began would balk at every word she spoke, regardless of what it might be, simply because of their anger and fear at what she had chosen to represent. Slow work. Tedious work. </p><p>Her sisters had teased her about her inability to stand such things, when she was young: “Never get between Edelgard and the door at the end of lessons! Little El will run you right over.” She <em>had</em> usually been the first out, running for afternoon freedom in the outdoors. Even restricted from going alone outside the palace grounds, there was far more adventure eto be found than would ever be contained in arithmetic or penmanship. </p><p>She had outgrown such childish displays of her feelings, of course, but not out of the feelings themselves. Still - always - she would do what was necessary. It was not for her own education, now - it was for every person in Fódlan. </p><p>But the tedium wasn’t the only thing she had to fight to keep her mind on the endless work:</p><p>There was also the abence in her heart, and in the empty bed she attempted restless sleep in each night. </p><p>Byleth had been gone for almost a month. Twenty-six days. Edelgard had no choice but to keep count; her subconscious mind would make certain of it, even if her conscious mind chose not to. Each time Byleth had left, it seemed the pain and fear could grow no greater - her body could contain no more - but with every day that passed, somehow, it did. This, though, was the longest it had been - and the fear was ever-present. She even dreams of it: nightmares of all those years Byleth had been gone. Nightmares of seeing her collapse, there at what had been greatest victory, and listening desperately, endlessly for a heartbeat that never came. And nightmares of now: only a still, silent body coming home; a shroud in the back of a wagon. or there being no body to bring home at all and, this time, no hope of future reunion. Like a child, she woke at times to damp, silent tears on her cheeks. </p><p>She understood the importance of what Byleth was doing - the fact that both Byleth and Hubert had been willing to leave her side spoke quite clearly of that importance. And their talents had not been wasted: the ongoing fight against the darkest enemies of Fódlan was going well. Many of their scattered nests had already been cleansed of vermin. </p><p>But they were not all found - and Byleth’s skills in hunting them out rivaled her skills with a sword. It made sense for her to go. But that did not mean Edelgard felt any less fear - or any less frustration that she could not be out there as well. </p><p>Twenty-six days: that was how long it took for her fears to be realized. Twenty-six days, until the door to her prison opened with nary a knock or a warning, and she saw that Hubert had finally returned.</p><p>Alone.</p><p>The unkempt nature of his appearance would have been more than enough to alert her that something had gone terribly, terribly wrong. She could see the sheen of perspiration on his skin, and the half-healed remains of a nasty cut across one cheek. He still wore riding clothes, when he almost always insisted on bathing and dressing more formally before coming to see her upon his returns. </p><p>But it was the glimpse of the pain in his eyes - seen only for the briefest second, before he dipped into a bow before her - that seemed to slam into her chest, hard as a fist. </p><p>“Lady Edelgard, I -”</p><p>“Where is she?” She could hear it in her voice - the terror. For once, she did not care. She pushed up from the desk. The pen she had been using had already begun to leave a spreading stain across the letter beneath it. She did not care about that, either. “Tell me immediately - where she is, and what happened.”</p><p>Hubert straightened again. There was some new measure of composure to his face, now that orders had been given. He offered her a curt nod. “She is near. We thought it best not to bring her any farther than was necessary to make certain we were not being followed.”</p><p>Edelgard gave a nod of her own. She wondered if it might be possible to hear the hammering of her frantic heart. Still, she had slipped on her own mask of composure - across her face, and in her voice when she said, “Tell me what happened on the way, then.”</p><p>“Of course. The horses are already waiting.”</p><p>A surprise attack, he said - an ambush from behind, when by all accounts, including his own, the area had already been cleared. Edelgard knew well such ambushes - the strange spells and dark knowledge possessed by their enemies meant such occurrences were all but inevitable. Unfortunately, the same means made <em>preparing</em> for such an attack impossible. They had certainly tried many times over.</p><p>And because of that...</p><p>Edelgard’s hands clenched around the reins within them. She resisted the urge to kick her horse into a gallop. She wished they could have flown instead. </p><p>Byleth had not faltered in the battle - she had had no chance to. “They clearly targeted her first,” Hubert said. Edelgard did not doubt it was true: they had not been secretive about the elite warriors being sent to wipe out their foes. And this was her doing - Hubert had wanted to keep their plans as quiet as possible, but she had felt the need to grandstand. She had wanted their enemies to <em>know</em> who was coming for them. For what seemed now shameful, selfish, petty reasons, she had wanted this: she had hoped to make them feel afraid. As they had once made her feel afraid. </p><p>They hadn’t targeted Byleth by chance, or even as an attempt to bring down a command of the Imperial Army. </p><p>They had targeted her as the woman Edelgard loved. Because she had not served the purpose for which they had created her. Because she had announced, loudly and openly, that the finest members of her army were coming to smoke them from their burrows and caves and rat-holes. </p><p>Which meant she bore some - perhaps most - of the blame for what had happened. </p><p>“We could not see to her injuries until the battle was won,” Hubert said. “For that, Lady Edelgard, I offer my humblest apologies. She was able still to fight, and it seemed the spell might not have caused serious injury, so I deemed it safer not to put the healers at risk to see to her immediately.”</p><p>“Of course,” Edelgard said. IF he heard the tension that had returned to her voice - and the guilt, heavy and pulsing, within it - he gave no sign. </p><p>“That is why I must ask your apology. That decision proved an ill-fated one. The magic worked as a venom might, it seems - slowly coursing through the veins, and just as slowly making its nefarious presence fully known. After the battle, she finally fell.”</p><p>In her mind, as cold and unyielding as a vise, Edelgard could now see it. As she had already, almost a yar ago, seen Byleth collapse. Only this time, Edelgard had not been able to rush to her side - and now, foolish as it was, it only added another sting to the swarm of her guilt. </p><p>“The healers,” she said. “Were they able to...?”</p><p>Hubert nodded. “The magic was purged. But it had done as intended - it will be some time before she is fully recovered.”</p><p><em>Recovered</em>. The question Edelgard had been desperate to ask, and equally determined not to do so - not yet - since the moment Hubert had appeared in her study: <em>Will she recover? </em>The relief of the answer washed over her, almost strong enough to cast aside the fear, the pernicious guilt. Almost - but not quite. Not yet. </p><p>“Here,” Hubert said - veering off the road, into the tangled darkness of the wood through which they were traveling. “A hunting cabin. One of the soldiers offered its use.”</p><p>She would see to it he was thanked - later. Adding it silently to the endless list of tasks in her mind. Thanks both for the use, and for the safety of it. They had to travel deep into the forest to find it - there would be no chance of their enemies, or anyone else, just happening to stumble upon it. Here, until she recovered - recovered! - Byleth would be safe. </p><p>And more so now, because Edelgard had no intention of leaving the place until that recover she was sure was complete. She could not undo what had already been done, but she could make damned sure no further harm was caused. Perhaps it would in some very small way make up for her negligence allowing Byleth to be in such a state in the first place. </p><p>The cabin was small, utilitarian - almost primitive in appearance. It sat in a clearing, surrounded on all sides by forest. The walls were wood, grey and weathered with age, and clearly even from a distance left unchinked. The small windows had waxed paper in them, not glass. There was a shed for horses, a rough-hewn box and an axe for firewood - and that was all. </p><p>No place Edelgard would want to call home. But for a place to hide someone now known all across Fódlan? It was perfect. </p><p>“Take me to her.”</p><p>Hubert bowed only his head, this time. “Of course, Lady Edelgard.”</p><p>There were three rooms inside - tiny ones, with no doors in the doorways and very little besides the necessities for brief stays: a large fireplace - already lit, though the place retained a chilly, damp, stale kind of air - and a table and chairs, as rough as the walls, in the main room. To the left, what seemed a storage room and cooking space; she could see crates and barrels and a stove with a precariously-crooked pipe. At the far end of the main room - </p><p>The bedroom.</p><p>She did not wait for Hubert. And she did not attempt to hide her hurry. </p><p>There were two beds - one large, the other smaller, tucked under one of the papered windows. A small chest in one corner. And that was all. </p><p>Byleth was in the smaller bed. </p><p>Edelgard’s breath caught. </p><p>She had seen Byleth very still. While she was listening to someone. While she was searching for something - a target. An enemy. </p><p>But she was not still in sleep - not at all. That was something Edelgard had had to grow accustomed to, in the first sweet nights they had shared a bed with one another. Byleth was a restless sleeper.</p><p>There was no restlessness to her now. </p><p>Edelgard crossed the room to her. Hubert was still without - giving them this moment alone. For that, Edelgard was grateful. Her fragile composure seemed likely at any moment to shatter. </p><p>Byleth was like a corpse - that was the only description that came to mind. Not only too still: too pale, too small, too... <em>depleted</em>. Drained of life, of her curious gaze. Simply a<em> thing</em>, now, a child’s doll tucked into bed, but never truly to awaken. They <em>had</em> tucked her in, but only to the waist. And the room was so damp and cold...</p><p>Edelgard pulled her gloves off, because that, in the moment, seemed suddenly very important. As did fixing the blankets, as tiny as this was in the face of a much greater, graver situation. She pulled them up, tucking them now around Byleth’s shoulders. Carefully - carefully. </p><p>Her skin, at least, felt warm and soft and alive. Edelgard, hands still bare, touched her cheek, brushed hair from her forehead. Byleth showed no reaction - but this close, Edelgard could see the rise and fall of her breath, slow and steady. Inside, her heart would have the same in its beat. Still, Edelgard put her hand there, too. She needed the reassurance of feeling it. The rhythmic strength of it. </p><p>“I am sorry, my love.” Words spoken softly. Inadequate words, but all she had to offer. </p><p>Back in the main room, Hubert was staring into the flames within the fireplace, his hands folded together behind his back. He did not look up when she entered the room once more. </p><p>“It is time for you to return to Enbarr,” she said. “You need to speak with those who know of our current whereabouts. Make it <em>very</em> clear that I expect the location to be kept secret. There will be most severe punishment should anyone allow this information to be made public. Tell Ferdinand he has lead of my affairs until I return. I ask that you remain available, and serve as my eyes and ears in the capitol. Should anything occur that requires my attention, please come to me at once.”</p><p>He offered another bow of his head. “Yes, Lady Edelgard. I shall send a contingent to watch this general area, that you may stay with the professor.”</p><p>“No. It’s too dangerous. Not when our enemy will be explicitly aware of our current situation. I alone will remain with Byleth. I assure you, I am more than protection enough, should any attempt to further harm her.”</p><p>She knew well the way that Hubert then smiled - thin, and satisfied, and dark. “As you wish. It shall be done as you say. And now, by your leave, I will return to Enbarr.” He hesitated - then looked her, finally, in the eye. “I am sorry I was not able to protect her.”</p><p>An unusual softness in his voice - but she could feel the same within herself. “It is the way of war, Hubert. You know that, I know that, and Byleth certainly knows it, as well. You saw her safely to this place. For that, I can only offer my gratitude.”</p><p>When he was gone, the tiny place seemed almost colder, and so quiet she could almost feel it, like an ache that settled within her very bones. For what seemed a long time, she could only stand there, hands on the doorframe without a door, as if trapped between two versions of reality: the one she faced, homely but almost, curiously, offering welcome, with the little table before the fire; and the one behind her, that room full of chill and guilt and unnatural stillness. </p><p>She wanted to return to that room. To keep vigil, until the beautiful moment it was no longer necessary. But the practical side of her, she knew she must allow to win out - at least for a time. There were matters to attend to: seeing what supplies were available to them. Chopping more firewood, unless there was a store of it somewhere besides the box she had seen outside, and not only what was already burning. Hubert would likely have left one of the horses for her, and she would have to see to its needs as well as her own and, much more importantly, Byleth’s. </p><p>The outside tasks first - the day was already growing late, and the night would be even colder than it was at the moment. She attended to the horse, lingering for a few minutes with it there in the shed that served as makeshift stable. A sweet horse - it allowed her to rub its nose, which she thought horses liked. It had never seemed wise, to show much softness around animals, especially those that were likely to be taken to war. Still, she liked them, and there was no one here to see, except Byleth - and Byleth, of course, already knew.</p><p>But the thought of Byleth was enough to cease her brief moment of distraction - Byleth in there alone, and the possibility that she might be cold or afraid or uncomfortable, and being unable to say or do anything about it. It was also looking increasingly likely to rain, the sky less darkening from dusk than from ominous, heavy, low-hanging clouds. </p><p>The axe - Edelgard collected it, considered it. Was there a<em> method</em> to cutting firewood? It certainly appeared to be done a particular way, considering the general uniformity of the pieces. But - for all her prowess with and preference for the axe as a battle weapon! - if there <em>was</em> such a method, she had no memory of having ever seen it, much less learned it herself. </p><p>“Ironic, really,” she murmured - then shrugged. “Well, surely logs will burn regardless of how they might appear...”</p><p>Small trees - was that what she was supposed to look for? It seemed unwise to attempt a large one - it would take far too long. And besides, the axe was quite small itself. The trick, then, was to <em>find </em>a small tree. </p><p>But that was a trick, indeed - she also was not certain how one was meant to do so. She had never cut firewood, and she had never had to find a small tree. There were no trees at all in the clearing, and all the ones she saw when she ventured into the forest were very large ones. Very, very large ones.</p><p><em>Was</em> she supposed to use one of those? Perhaps she was overestimating the amount of time that it would take. There might be small trees closer to the roads they had traveled earlier, where more sun was available, but she didn’t want to be so far from Byleth unless there was no other choice. And she wouldn’t be able to safely traverse the forest after dark - she had no torch, and it would be too easy to lose her bearings in such unfamiliar territory even if she did have one. </p><p>Then - finally! - a stroke of luck: one of the trees had saved her the work of cutting it by at some point downing itself. She could have laughed at her own sudden, ridiculous sense of relief - and at the thought of what Byleth would surely think of it. Of her: an emperor, too ill-prepared to know how to find firewood, and now as happy as a child with a new toy over a fallen tree!</p><p>She ignored the thick trunk in favor of the branches - ones that would have been far too high had the tree been standing. They cut easily enough, fortunately, though they certainly weren’t going to win any prize for firewood uniformity. She was reminded of the training grounds at the monastery - the satisfying thunk of her axe against targets. That wood had been softer and less splintery than this, but still, the feeling and sound were much the same. </p><p>After that, it was a simple matter of carrying it back to the cabin, being mindful of those splinters. A good thing, the simplicity - the sky had gone from ominous to angry, and there was very little light left to see it. She felt the first drops of rain as she carried back the last of her loads. The box and the overhang of the roof would keep the wood mostly dry, but still, she took more than was likely needed inside, leaving it next to the fireplace. </p><p>There were still the supplies to examine, and she knew it best to eat something after all her exertion, but she went to Byleth again first. The stillness, again, was unnerving - but at least it meant she had not kicked and tossed the blankets aside, as she was often wont to do in her sleep. Still, Edelgard adjusted them around her once more. Just in case. </p><p>It was almost too dark to see, when she went to examine the barrels and crates in the third tiny room, but it seemed a waste of both wood and time to attempt to light the stove. Besides, the exertion and stress were beginning to catch up with her - she felt the heaviness of them across her back and shoulders, behind her eyes. It had been too long since she’d found time for regular physical training, as she had done when actively taking part in battle. She needed to return to such, when all this was over. </p><p>For now, though, she had already exhausted herself, and the dim light cast from the fireplace would have to do. </p><p>Someone must have been sent by Hubert for fresh supplies - there were vegetables, eggs, cheese, dried meats... and tea. He had likely stressed it must be the bergamot, and she smiled, just a little bit, to think of the fear he had likely put into some young soldier over <em>tea leaves</em>, of all things. In the barrels, she found potatoes. Many potatoes. She supposed it made sense; potatoes would keep. She had never cooked one herself, but the process seemed likely a simple one.</p><p>But not tonight - she could not face the thought of cooking, despite her earlier mental note to eat. Nor the thought of going through the rest of the crates. She was too tired. </p><p>And stronger even than her exhaustion - her growing, desperate need to be with the woman that she loved. The one she had allowed to be here, and in such a state. There was no more work demanding her attention now, nothing else necessary before morning came. No paperwork - without the guilt now heavy upon her once more, that would have left her ecstatic - and nothing else to try to accomplish in the gloom of this dark little house. </p><p>She wanted to be with Byleth. </p><p>The fire was down to embers; there was hardly enough light to see as she undressed, unbuttoning and unfastening mostly by touch and by memory. She had no nightgown - there had been no chance to gather such things, nor would she have wasted the time to do so even if offered a chance - but could manage in her underclothing perfectly well. They had done the same to Byleth - Edelgard left her own clothes next to the neat stack beside the smaller bed, and the pins from her hair as well. </p><p>She wanted to get into that smaller bed. To lie close, holding Byleth safe in her arms. It had been too long - far too long. </p><p>But she did not. Punishing herself, for her complicity in all of this? Taking the safer route, in case it was not yet advisable for Byleth to be moved? Some combination of both? She could not say, nor did she wish right now to dwell upon it. She needed, desperately, to sleep. </p><p>But knowing this was not the same as willing it - a situation she knew almost as well as she knew herself. The room was cold, and even under the blankets, she shivered. She could hear the rain, hard against the paper windows, and distant thunder, drawing ever closer. Such sounds should have been a comfort, helping soothe her, but on this night, they seemed ominous - one more approaching possibility of threat. </p><p>She knew what would soothe her. The only thing that would soothe her. </p><p>And finally, she gave in to it. </p><p>Shivering harder, exposed once more to the frigid air; the heat from the fire, little as it had been, was now gone completely. Padding in bare feet to the other bed; the floor was cold enough to burn. She ignored it all. </p><p>“I apologize, my love.” To expose Byleth to the same discomfort was more difficult - but at least it only lasted as long as it took Edelgard to pull back the blankets and gather her carefully up. Lifting slowly. Cradled, finally: that familiar warmth against her, close and tight. “Only a moment, my love, and I’ll have you warm again. She couldn’t seem to stop saying it - as if some part of her needed reminding, as much as she wanted Byleth to hear it: <em>my love, my love, my love</em>. </p><p>In her arms, she felt stirring movement.</p><p>Edelgard froze.</p><p>Brief - it was very brief. Byleth’s head turning - Edelgard could feel it, against her forearm, against her chest. And a voice, rich and heavy with sleep: “...El?”</p><p>“Yes.” Her own voice was thick and small, and the words came again: “Yes, my love. I’m here.”</p><p>“El...” And then she slipped away again - Edelgard could feel that, too, the relaxation, the heavier breath. </p><p>Tucked into bed once more, but Edelgard now close beside her - greater room in his larger bed be damned. The shivering eased, then ceased. The sound of the rain was correct once more. Gentle. Reassuring. </p><p>She could feel sleep now, creeping softly upward within her mind. Before it had her entirely, she put her hand - heavy, clumsy with fatigue - where she could again feel the steady beat of a healing heart. </p><p>Against the familiar rhythm, Edelgard slept. </p>
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